I have to say that I don't think we "deserved" to go up (if there is such a thing in life, let alone football), as i don't believe, overall, we are good enough. Here's my thoughts:-
1. We don't score enough goals from our forward line. Simms and Wright don't trouble defenders enough, and their ability to jump and win headers in the box is woeful for such tall guys. Wright, on his day, can be fantastic (his hat-trick against Sunderland at home was amazing), but his inconsistency is a problem. We absolutely need a top centre-forward target man. Which brings me to ...
2. Crosses. Tats, Milan, JDS, EMC are all good at getting the ball into the box, but there is rarely anyone there to meet it, and the most we can hope for is to hoover up the scraps of a poor clearance. Similarly long throws from MVE. Predictable, defendable, pointless.
3. Set-plays and corners. For all his hard work in midfield last night, Grimes was poor in this area, and we have collectively been bad at corners for several seasons, not beating the first man, or putting it too close to the keeper to make it easy for him.
4. Dovin getting injured was critical to the way we play. That terrific run between January and March was largely down to the confidence that he inspired in the rest of the team, and we could push forward a lot more because they were sure he would be able to sweep up. If he had stayed fit, i think we would have had a great chance of going up, but Lampard's insistence of sticking with Collins in the past 12 games or so cost us - not just in the goals for which he should have done better (and the back 4 have to take some blame for leaving him exposed for many of those), but also the undermining of that confidence. Wilson's return has helped steady the ship, but he is capable of howlers on his day. Aled Williams has not demonstrated he can coach a moderately-good keeper into a good one. Probably the reverse
5. Without Thomas, we are vulnerable at the back. All the way across the back, as the full-backs feel the need to come inside and cover the CBs, leaving the wings desperately exposed. Even when the CB pairing looks confident, the full-backs (especially on the left) abandon their post.
6. Substitutions: Lack of nous, lack of a plan B, too many like-for-like swaps, unable to "change it up". In this regard, Lampard has shown he is no better than Robins was. Last night, he SHOULD have seen how tired we were AND how tired the Sunderland defenders were, and should have brought on BTA for EMC to run at the defenders much earlier, along with Patterson for Rudi, who was anonymous after about 70 minutes. I think it cost us last night.
I think the great run in Jan-March (largely against lower mid-table teams) flattered to deceive. We saw how far behind Leeds we were in the only match we lost at home during that run. And we need to be that good, somehow! Our run-in form was the same as the 8 games prior to Robins being fired. It can't be all down to the keeper. The only player scoring any goals during that time was Rudi, for many of the reasons above.
I would like to see the following players shipped out: Collins, Binks, Lati, Simms, Wright. I know Sheaf is popular with a lot of you, but he is a Championship-level player, and we need a Champ-to-Prem player (if only Torp and Rudi could stay fit) if we are going to make a proper challenge for promotion. And get rid of Aled Williams.
Them's my thoughts - prepared to be challenged!
PUSB
